Selby Town have signed a million-pound deal for a new stadium that could carry them into the Nationwide Conference.

Two years of hard work behind the scenes has culminated in the signing of an agreement that will see a new ground for the Robins built from the sale of their current Flaxley Road home.

Wetherby-based house builders Portford Homes have inked a provisional deal to buy the ground as long as planning permission is granted.

The proceeds of the sale will be ploughed into a new complex adjacent to Selby College to include a Conference-standard ground with a capacity of nearly 5,000 and a number of pitches that will be made available to junior sides and other teams in the town.

Chairman Mike Dunne said: "We have got aspirations as a club to move up the leagues but we need to make quite a lot of improvements to the ground in order to do that.

"When we were looking at the requirements, we found there wasn't much of a difference between UniBond League and Conference so we thought it would be best to go the whole distance now.

"Wouldn't it be lovely if Selby Town could play York City in a few years' time? Don't get me wrong, I want to see York back up into the League but for a town the size of Selby to be able to compete in the UniBond League - and beyond - would be amazing.

"When this is done we will be able to achieve that. And, as we are currently top of the Northern Counties East League premier division, it would be great to have that to aim for down the line."

The new stadium will be born out of a close working relationship between the club and the district council which has seen independent consultants drafted in at a cost of £30,000 to put forward the best solution.

After months of meetings, the club have now secured an option to buy two disused pitches from the council and some land from the college to build the new stadium.

And it is hoped the deal will go through and work completed in time to move in ahead of the 2006-07 season.

The new location will help strengthen the ties with the Selby College academy and will provide a focal point for the community with junior teams based there.

Dunne added: "We have worked very closely with Selby District Council in getting this together. They have been a great help to us and we really appreciate that.

"We have worked with them and the planners and the solicitors all through this so we are hoping we have got it all right."

The joint planning permission for the housing and the new stadium will be submitted in the coming weeks.

Selby travel to mid-table Glapwell tomorrow to continue their on-pitch fight for promotion.

Updated: 11:50 Friday, February 18, 2005